Boys 1 Lacrosse cracks top ten, girls fall short of playoffs
a C hristopher E rbin __________
Staff Reporter
The Boys' Lacrosse Team
faced a rough non-league
schedule to open the season.
They fought hard in contests
with two of the toughest
teams in the state, but in both
scenarios came up short,
falling to Oregon Episcopal,
9-4, and Lincoln High School,
12-8. The Lions posted a
deceiving record of 11-6
(9-3) in league, with four of
those losses coming against
opponents ranked in the top
five in State.
"We were pretty pleased
with the efforts. For the most
part, we played right with the
best teams in the state. We had
our chances," Mark Flood,
head coach, said.
Having climbed to the
number seven ranking in
the Class 6A Coaches' Poll,
the Lions are a stronger
post season threat then their
record may indicate. They
Callen Gray, junior, goes on the attack in a gam e versus Riverdale.
The Lions beat the M avericks 16-5 and finished the season w ith a
record of 4-6 in league play.
Photo by Zack Mueiler
Equestrian Team works
to compete at high level
u S hoshana K oon _____________
Staff Reporter
W hile m ost school
equestrian team s have
15-16 girls, West Linn has
only eight: Betsy Luehrs,
Sam antha Roberts, Karleigh
Vroman, seniors, Sydney
M acN aughton, junior,
Lyndsey Austin, Carly
Strasshofer, sophom ores,
M acKenzie Johnson and
Nicole Paulson, freshmen.
It is the sm allest team in
the entire Tri-River Valley
District.
A lthough som e people
think that Equestrian
should not be considered
a sport, riders know the
am ount of tim e needed
to train the horse and
prepare for the events is
tremendous. U sually the
horses need to be taken
out at least three times a
w eek for three hours, w hen
team m em bers spend time
grooming, w alking, training
and caring for the horses.
"You're w orking all the
time w ith your horse, and
it's not easy," Leuhrs said.
It's kind of disappointing
that it's not recognized more
because of how the hard the
athletes work."
Som e people think
that the horses do all the
w ork and the rider just
sits there, but the riders
think differently. W hen a
rider is on the horse they
have to keep their backs
straight, m uscles tight
and be extrem ely calm
because the horse tunes
into how its rider is feeling.
If the rider is anxious or
gets scared the horse will
respond accordingly and be
spooked.
"Running comes
naturally to people; riding
a horse doesn't. Some
people don't understand
that running barrels or any
other event doesn't exactly
finished third in the Three
Rivers League capping
the regular season with a
commanding 13-2 victory over
com e naturally to horses
either, so you have to train
them and teach them to
do these things, w hile you
train yourself at the same
time. It's a lot of work,"
Strasshofer said.
The Equestrian Team
is not considered a sport
because the school does
not pay for anything. All of
the m oney has to be raised
by the team members.
They ask com panies and
to sponsor them. One of
the reasons that there are
only four meets a year (in
February, M arch, April and
one for State in M ay) is due
to the am ount of m oney
that it costs to hold a meet.
"We have to get
sponsorships for posters,
events and for every time
w e meet. At the beginning
of the year the cost was
around $400," A ustin said.
It takes a lot of time to
find a com pany that will
sponsor them especially
w hen there is a real
possibility that they w on't
even m ake it to State. Even
so, they are dedicated
to w hat they do and are
w illing to do w hatever
it takes to at least have
the chance to participate.
H alf of the team includes
first year m em bers w ho
continue to im prove at
every com petition.
"Our team is doing great.
It doesn't really m atter
w hether or not w e w in or
lose or go to State," A ustin
said. "We are a good team
together and that's w hat
counts,"
State com petition is a
four day event that allows
only the top three riders per
event to com pete from each
district. Com petitions were
held M ay 17-19 at Central
Point in M edford. Results
w ere not available as of
press time.
Clackamas. They also made the
breakthrough they had been
waiting for all season when
they defeated first place Lake
Oswego 8-7 on May 18.
The team played West
Salem in the first round of
State and won easily by a score
of 18-2. After the Lions big
win, they will face High Desert
League champion Summit
which boasts an impressive
10-2 (8-0) record. A win there
would pit them against Sunset
for a place in the Final Four at
State. Sunset is ranked third in
State and are the undefeated
champs of an extremely
competitive Metro League.
"It's not bad. It's certainly
not a cakewalk but it could
be worse," Flood said of State
brackets.
The Girls' Lacrosse Team
also started slow, but steadily
improved throughout the
season to stay in contention
for a playoff spot. The Lions
finished with a 6-8 (4-6) record.
"We had a pretty horrible
start to league play," Karina
Dewart, senior, said. "But we
have some of the weaker teams
coming up in our schedule. We
are still in the playoff hunt, and
that's all that really matters."
The girls faced challenges
from the start of the season,
as they went up against the
league’s first, second and third
place teams in succession to
open league play. Over this
stretch, they faced Oregon City,
Lakeridge and Lake Oswego,
all ranked in the state's top
ten. Despite being outscored
49-7, the Lions responded
from the 0-3 start with a
dominating win at Riverdale,
defeating the Mavericks, 16-5.
The girls' schedule continued
to ease as they took down the
Clackamas Cavaliers, 16-10.
As the girls progressed
through the second half of
the season, playoffs began
looking less and less of a
possibilty as other TRL teams
continued their winning
streaks. The team hung tough
with Lakeridge and Oregon
City, keeping the scores much
closer than the first time
they competed against them.
Entering the final week of
the regular season, the girls
were eliminated from post
season play, but finished
the season on a high note
scoring back-to-back victories
over Riverdale, 18-6, and
Clackamas, 14-7.
"This season was really
fun," Dewart said. "We had
a lot of good times and I'm
really proud of how hard our
team competed this season."
Girls rugby's five year reign comes to
an end; boys fall to Cinderella story
,
G alley L athrop _____________
Staff Reporter
Both rugby teams were
confident as the end of regular
season drew near in April.
The boys finished the regular
season undefeated in league
for the first time in the team's
history and the girls tried to
regroup after a slew of injuries
and losses for the first time in
three years.
In the State quarterfinals,
the girls faced Reynolds,
after a slow start, the team
eventually dominated in a 58-5
victory, earning them a spot in
the semi-final round against
Canby.
The team fell to Canby in
February for the first time in
the team's history. According
to Ernest Espinoza, head
coach, a factor in the game was
the level of experience of a
very young West Linn team.
"We've played many top
level teams this year, and
many rookies have stepped
up after starters have been
injured. Canby knows what
they're doing," Espinoza said.
The girls team took on the
Cougars in a "clash of the
titans" in the State semi-finals
on May 9. For the first time in
the history of Oregon rugby
playoffs, the Canby Cougars
beat the Renegades, 31-12,
knocking them out of the
running for a sixth State title.
The same day, North
Clackamas, a team the
Renegades beat mere weeks
ago, 68-0, took on Bend, the
only other team to beat West
Linn in league play. However,
the loss of Bend's champion
scrumhalf proved fatal, as
the Vixens lost to North
Clackamas, 31-20. The State
final will feature Canby and
North Clackamas, leaving a
M ikey Levinson, Lake Oswego
senior, leaves a Canby player in
the dust with support of teammate
Katherine Linday, senior. During
the State semi-final match, Canby
topped the Renegades for the first
time in five years, 12-31.
Photo courtesy of Zchonae Jones
sour taste for many West Linn
players.
"The way the divisions were
set up was just kind of weird.
The fact that one of the, no
offense to them, weakest teams
in the league placed higher in
state just doesn't seem right.
But, they obviously earned the
right. It was very interesting,"
Shelby Patterson, sophomore,
said.
The Renegades played
Bend for third place on May
16, however, the game was
forfeited as Bend did not have
enough players to field a side.
The boys had, statistically,
the best regular season in the
history of the program, with
a 6-0 record and first place in
their division. On May 2, they""
took on powerhouse Canby.
Their State dreams came to an
end when the Cougars won
in a landslide 68-5 victory.
However, the team is still
hopeful and proud of their
accomplishment.
"Our goal this year was to
make the State playoffs for
Division I and to be in that
division for next year and we
did that. We knew it would be
hard to be competitive once
we made the jump. Our final
goal is to beat Vancouver,
ranked sixth in Division I,
to let everyone, including
ourselves, know that we
belong in Div(ision) I," Tim
Medearis, head coach, said.
The boys played a
consolation game for
fifth place in state against
Vancouver on May 9. It began
in a forfeit, as the Sharks could
not field a side, but ended due
to fights.
"Vancouver did not have
the numbers to start the game
so we won, then played a
"friendly game." They had
some kids who were not on
their team to help out and
those kids were throwing
punches. After the second
dust up, we called the game,"
Medearis said.
Although the boys' dream
of a State title after a successful
season were crushed, and the
girls' experienced true defeat
for the first time in years, both
teams remain positive and are
hopeful for next season.